Goldenglow Aftermath
by Azaisya
Summary: To put it simply, the job went horribly. When Vex stumbles back into the Cistern, bleeding and barely conscious, Brynjolf tends to her wounds. And unspoken feelings emerge between the two. BrynjolfxVex. Oneshot. T because I'm paranoid, and this is Skyrim.


**Disclaimer: Bethesda owns Skyrim, not me.**

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><p>Something was very wrong. My gut <em>told<em> me that. She should have been back by now. I was pacing, my footsteps echoing off the domed walls of the Cistern. "Come on... Get back already..." It was late at night; I was the only one still up.

There had been too many jobs gone wrong lately, too many good thieves thrown in jail. But Vex couldn't have gotten caught, right? She was the Guild's best infiltrator, and — as she constantly reminded us — the best thief the Guild had.

If she couldn't get into Goldenglow, then nobody could. She had to come back. She just _had_ to. I was pacing again, wringing my hands back and forth in an effort to control my worry. The only reason I was so worried, I reasoned, was because she was a Guild-sister, and a very talented thief. It wasn't because I had other feelings for that lass...

I heard a sound from the secret entrance, and I whipped around. But it was just Sapphire coming in, her brow creased in annoyance.

"What are you doing here, lass?" I asked.

The thief replied simply, sniffing in disdain, "Some idiots in the inn can't keep their hands to themselves." Then she yawned. "Night, Brynjolf. You don't mind if I spend the night with the Guild this time, do you?"

I was pacing again, unable to be still. "Of course not, Sapphire. You know you're always welcomed here." She left the room, leaving me alone with my worry. I continued walking back and forth, my steps counting the seconds that dragged on... and on... and on.

Then there was a crash as the secret entrance opened once again. I whirled around again. Only this time, a different person came in. A woman of small stature fell forward, landing at an awkward angle on the floor, her platinum hair flying upwards. I let out a gasp and ran towards her. Her Guild leathers were soaked in blood, and I demanded, "Vex? What happened?"

She rolled over, her breathing heavy. "Too... many... damn... mercenaries..." She started coughing uncontrollably, and my mouth opened, but she spat, "Don't you dare call Mercer or Delvin."

I closed my mouth helplessly, panicking. Vex was just lying there, on the floor of the Cistern. I had to do something! I quickly ripped a long strip of cloth from my undershirt, and picked Vex up. She had stopped coughing and was just lying in my arms, limp. "Brynjolf, if you don't put me down —" She was cut off when another fit of coughing took her.

I quickly picked her up and carried her somewhere where no one would walk in, laying her down a bit aways from the entrance to the training room, by one of the chests, and began to unbuckle her cuirass. She tried to slap my hand away, but then she let out a yelp as my shaking fingers slipped and touched the sensitive skin around a bloody gash.

"Watch it!" She was biting the inside of her cheek; I could tell.

I hurriedly undid the last buckle, managing a semi-apologetic, "Sorry, lass."

"Don't 'lass' me!" She was being even pricklier than ever, but she was just trying to hide her pain and fear.

I let out a low whistle as I slid the whole cuirass off. Her side and stomach were both covered in blood, and there were numerous wounds riddling the otherwise smooth flesh. I hastily pressed the cloth against one of the larger ones, in an attempt to quench the flow of blood.

Vex moaned, her eyes closing. I shook her, roughly. "Don't fall asleep."

"You think I'm going to be able to?" she demanded, and then fell into another coughing fit. My hands traveled up her bare side, my fingers finding other small scratches and bruises. There! A wound in her chest. It was more than a scratch, and I sincerely hoped it hadn't punctured her lung.

She had bled through the temporary bandage, and I could tell she was quickly losing consciousness. "Vex," I said, struggling to keep the fear out of my voice, "I'm going to have to get help."

"No!" The Imperial's normally cold eyes were wide. Vex was terrified right now, and I had no idea how she had managed to get back to the Cistern, as hurt as she was.

"Why not?" I was ripping up more of my undershirt to use as bandages, but it wasn't helping. I needed a healer, a mage, or even an alchemist! Vex could _die_.

"Please." If Vex wasn't pleading, I didn't know what she was doing. So I pursed my lips and kept doing what I was doing. "All right, but I'm going to go really quick to get some water."

She closed her eyes, slumping against the floor. "Hurry."

I ran off and fetched a bucket of water. I didn't have time to boil it, but whatever. As soon as I returned, I asked, "Lass?"

Her eyelids fluttered open, but they were glassy. I quickly wet the cloth I had grabbed and began to clean the wounds, now that the bleeding had lessened a bit. She hissed in pain whenever the cloth touched the wounds, and I could've sworn there were tears in her eyes.

I continued to tend to her wounds, ignoring the whimpers that escaped her despite her obvious attempts to hold them back. She was in pain. "Do you want me to go grab a painkiller potion, or something?" I asked, cutting some bandages.

Vex's chest was heaving, she was bleeding, she was injured, but she was still stubborn as Oblivion. "I'm... fine..." She was biting her lip to keep from crying out, and my eyes narrowed. I hated to see her in pain. Her body was shaking, her pale frame wracked with the effort. Her eyes were beginning to glaze over, so I shook her semi-roughly. "Lass, don't you dare die now." If anything, the words only made her body convulse with more hacking coughs.

"Shh, shh, shh..." I was frantic, wondering why in Oblivion I wasn't calling for help, despite what she said. I carefully lifted her up, and was reminded of how thin she was. It was how she got into small spaces, I suppose. Propping her against me, I began to wrap the bandages carefully around her stomach, and Vex finally shut her eyes and gave in, becoming limp against me.

Every once in a while, as I continued my work, her eyes would twitch under her closed lids. Her breathing steadied.

And I relaxed. I picked her up again, putting one arm under her knees and the other under her back, carrying her into the training room. It was empty, and I somehow sensed that she didn't want people to know about her injuries. I wondered, briefly, why.

When she came to, it was a while later, but still night. Nobody sane was still out and awake, and Vex groaned and tried to sit up. When I made no move to go help her, she collapsed back down, wincing and rubbing her side. "Bryn?" Her voice was weak, lacking any of her normal fire.

"Lass?" My voice was just as soft, and I looked down upon the platinum haired Imperial thief. "You all right?"

Her eyelids were heavy, but she still managed a smirk. "What happened?"

"You passed out, and I brought you here." I was relieved she was fine.

She attempted to sit up, and this time I helped her. She leaned heavily against me, and she whispered, "I'm not an idiot, Brynjolf." Her head was on my shoulder, and I breathed in her bittersweet scent.

I waited, figuring she'd get to it when she was ready.

"Mercer would never let me out on another job, and Del would fuss over me. I knew you wouldn't. That's why I told you not to get them." Her words were coming faster, and I just sat there, running my fingers along her hair. "Bryn," she continued, "I didn't expect that many mercenaries. There were too many."

"Shh," I inturrupted her, "It's over now." I knew better than to wrap my arms around Vex, but I had never seen her like this before. Something bad had happened on the island. Still, my caution won and I just continued stroking her hair, not allowing myself to do any more.

"But they were nothing compared to what attacked next. Nothing. I swear, Bryn, I've never seen anything like it..."

To Oblivion with caution. I slung one arm around her shoulder, careful not to reopen her wounds. "You don't have to talk about it, lass."

She pulled away as quickly as her wounds would allow, and even then she drew in her breath in a sharp gasp of pain. "I'm not _not_ telling you, Bryn! Especially not when a freaking-godsforsaken-dragon attacks me right after ten-odd mercenaries did!"

My jaw literally dropped. "What?"

Vex retorted, "A dragon, you dim-witted Nordic—"

I inturrupted her with a, "Lass, stop. You were attacked by a dragon. And you survived?"

"Did you really expect me not to?" she quipped.

I stood, dragging her up with me. She winced, one hand going to her injured side, and snapped, "Keep your paws off me!"

"Lass, I'm just glad you're alive."

Vex shook her head. "But I failed," she muttered bitterly.

Her cold eyes met my own, and, for a second, I was glad. Glad that Vex had allowed her walls to lower enough for me to see that tiniest bit of her.

Then she sat back down with a long string of profanities, cursing everything between bandits, dragons, and spiders. Vex was a very creative curser. "Thanks," she admitted, gruffly.

A smirk settled on my lips. "For what?"

She glared at me, her eyes like flint. "For not telling Del and Mercer, dimwit."

My smirk turned into a smile. "I'd do it anytime, for you."

An odd look crossed her face. "And what does that mean?" She wrinkled her nose, but I didn't miss the way her eyes lit up. I knew little Vex very well. Very few people knew Vex as well as the other Higher Operatives of the Thieves' Guild. To most, she seems sharp, far away, and just plain frigid. But Del, Mercer and I know the truth.

"What does what mean, lass?" I asked innocently, smiling charismatically. I carefully eased Vex into a sitting position, my hands moving expertly over her form, fingers finding the straps and buckles, sitting down next to her.

She glared at me and opened her mouth to spit something out when I held up a hand and explained, "I'm going to change your bandages; you've already bled through."

As I peeled the cloth bandages off, Vex cursed violently. She finally replied to my question, as I cleaned her wounds, "What do you mean you'd do it anytime for me?" She was watching me, but I kept my eyes on my work, trying to ignore how her smooth — at least the part that wasn't injured — skin felt beneath my hands, how supple her body was.

"What do you think?" I asked, unrolling more bandages.

"Bryn—" My name ended in a muffled scream as the Imperial thief stuffed her sleeve in her mouth.

"Sorry!" I apologized quickly.

She cursed again, softer. "Darn it, Brynjolf, don't put the stupid bandage _in_ the cut!"

I had to bite my tongue to refrain from saying, "Actually, lass, it's a bit more than a cut."

Then she asked, "Why me, specifically, Bryn?"

I couldn't play it stupid any longer. "I don't know, Vex. I'd do it for you, and you especially, because..."

Vex pulled my hands away from the bandage and finished tying it herself. "I can do it myself, you know."

"I know, lass. I like doing it," I told her.

Vex stopped what she was doing, and her head snapped over to me. I suddenly felt hot all over, and embarrassed. _Shut up!_ I told myself. _Quit saying stupid things!_

Vex looked away and back down at her feet. "Bryn, I don't care what the others say about you. You do have a heart." Then she smirked. "A black heart." The smirk turned to a grimace, and her hand returned to her side. "Ow," she muttered.

"Are you all right?" I asked, instantly at her side.

She was taking slow, steadying breaths. "Brynjolf?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this."

I raised my eyebrows. "About what?"

She gestured at one of the larger wounds, and my eyebrow just went up higher. "Lass, you know we have to tell Mercer the job didn't go well."

Vex sighed. "Of course I know that. Unlike you, I'm not a halfwit."

I just shook my head. The lass was always making cracks at my intelligence, but I always ignored them. Why? Because...

"Hey, Bryn?"

My gaze was drawn from her wounds to her face. "Yes, lass?"

Her eyes were grave as a tomb, and she asked, "Am I going to be all right?"

I blinked, startled. "Of course. The wounds will close, in time. You'll have lots of new scars, though." _She might not have gotten scars, had I taken her to a real healer,_ I thought bitterly.

"That's not what I meant, Brynjolf." There was an odd look in Vex's eyes, almost as though she were dreading the answer. "I've never been hurt this bad before; I was always able to at least _stand_." She laughed softly, the sound tainted with bitterness. "Now I can't even sit up without help."

I wrapped my arms around her again, but she shrugged them off this time.

I murmured, my lips close to the Imperial thief's ears, "Then what _do_ you mean?"

A shaky sigh escaped Vex's full lips, and I realized with a start that she was allowing me to see a vulnerable side of her, one that I had never seen before. "Brynjolf, I—" She took a deep breath before continuing, "Would if I can't, you know, fight anymore? Would if I can't pull off jobs anymore? I'm a thief, Bryn; it's all I know. What happens if I can't do it anymore?"

I realized with a start why Vex was so afraid, why she was so vulnerable. "Lass," I began, but stopped just as quickly. "I don't know," I admitted, pursing my lips. In all of my years, I had never imagined a thief giving up their work because of an injury.

Vex lay against me, closing her eyes. "I kind of need you to answer, Brynjolf." She sighed, and then managed a shaky, "At least I can sit around all day and drink, eh?"

But I was silent. Vex was young, too young to be crippled because of an injury. "Vex," I said, my voice soft, "lass, I'm sure you'll be fine." I hesitated. "Mercer could barely move after he came back from Snowveil, remember?"

I expected Vex to relax, but instead she insisted, "Oh, and Mercer goes out on _so_ many jobs nowadays!"

I tried to remember the last time Mercer had been on a job. While he admittedly was out often, he never went on jobs. At least, not since twenty-five years ago. I think.

Vex sighed and sunk further against me. "That's what I thought." Then she shook her head and repeated it. "That's what I thought."

I leaned over her, forcing the young thief to look me in the eyes. "Lass, I will make sure you can still go out on jobs."

"How?" Vex looked away again, breathing a long, slow sigh. She was moving slowly, so as to not cause her injuries to react.

"I promise you that, lass," I insisted.

She just looked hopelessly at me. The truth was, now I knew for a fact she was still going to be able to do jobs. After all, she was Vex. And Vex never gives up.

"Brynj—" she began, but I overrode her.

"When I promise something, I always follow through. Especially when I promise you, lass."

"Why me, especially?" Vex wondered aloud, and then added, "And don't you dare say something cliché!"

"Well, one," I began, chortling softly, "nobody in their right mind would cross you, lass. Two..." I let the word hang. She waited, her pale eyes expectant.

I took a deep breath, uncertainty hanging in the air around me, my heart beating faster than normal. Then I leaned forward and kissed Vex, right on the mouth.

I felt her stiffen, felt the angry words forming on her lips, but then they died, and she relaxed into my arms.

I immediately felt jubilant, but the moment was ruined when Delvin's voice called, "'Ey! Why is there blood in the Cistern?!"

Vex groaned and buried her head in my chest before saying, her voice slightly muffled, "Not my problem."

"Actually, lass," I managed, my lips tingling from the memory, "it is."

She smirked at me, and there was surprise in her eyes. Surprise and contentment. "Can't walk, remember? You go tell him."

I sighed dramatically and stood, shouting over my shoulder, "Get over here and I'll tell you!"

Delvin answered, "Where in Oblivion are you, then?"

I looked back at Vex, and the Imperial thief smiled, her lips curving delicately. I realized with a start that it was a smile, not a smirk. And I smiled back. "There's more where that came from," I told her, tapping my lips.

She just rolled her eyes and said, forcefully, "Nothing happened just now."

"Nothing," I agreed, my heart doing flips. Then Delvin burst onto the scene, with a, "And I bet'er not be the one to clean up the Cistern." Then his eyes found Vex. Delvin's eyes went wide as saucers. I nearly smacked my head. We hadn't done up her shirt all the way.

She must've noticed, too, because she snapped, "Say a single word, Breton, and I will cut out your tongue."

Delvin shut his mouth. Then he eyed the bloody bandages in the corner. "A' right. But I'm not gonna be the poor soul oo's tellin' Mercer that Goldenglow didn' go so well."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! This is the first story I've ever published (but not the first I've written). I really love reviews (but am trying not to beg), love constructive criticism, but please no flames. <strong>


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